The Lake House
by HouseExcelsior
Summary: Draco and Hermione find themselves in the US after a mix up during the Battle of Hogwarts. Can they learn from one another? Or will they end up killing each other before they get back to England? Rated M for mature content.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, I am happy to say that I am back after a very long time. A few things before we get started, I am in need of a beta so if you like what you read and would like to be a part of the magic please contact me. Also my user name has now changed from AlphaOmegaLove to HouseExcelsior.

Summary: Draco and Hermione find themselves in the US after a mix up during the Battle of Hogwarts. Can they learn from one another? Or will they end up killing each other before they get back to England? Rated MA for mature content.

Draco was warm, too warm. What was going on? The last thing he remembered was the second wave of fighting breaking out at Hogwarts that morning. He could hear the sound of water lapping gently at the shore. _I must be by the lake._ He opened his eyes slowly trying to get his bearings but all he could see was blackness. His cloak was covering his head. He could see a squint of sunlight streaming through one of the breaks of the fabric. _That's odd. _He thought, _the sun's nearly at noon. It was early morning last I remember._ Draco was on edge now trying to assess the situation he seemed to face. He slowly lowered the cloak so he could peak out. He wasn't at the lake, well not the lake at Hogwarts anyhow. Everything was brighter here and he could make out a plethora of lake houses and boats. Wide-awake and aware now he sat up drawing the cloak from his body, barely able to stand the warmth anymore. "Petrificus Totalus!" Draco was down again, his eyes searching for the witch or wizard that cursed him. He wanted to close his eyes to block out the glare from the midday sun but was unable to because of the bloody curse. Suddenly as if his prayers were answered a figure moved to block the sun, helping him out of his current predicament yet ultimately inhibiting his view of his attacker. The figure aimed their wand at Draco once more but this time said no words. He could feel large coils spring out of the wand and wrap themselves around him and he could feel the previous curse being lifted. "Who the bloody hell are you?" His eyes slowly adjusted and he saw that his attacker was none other than Hermione Granger.

"Granger! What the hell is going on here?" He struggled trying to get out of the restraints but it was proving futile. Instead he resolved to figure out why he was with Granger, wherever they happened to be. "Alright listen up Malfoy, the war is over. Voldemort is dead and I have been charged with keeping you here until the ministry could figure out what to do with you." She explained gently. A million thoughts began to run through his brain but the most important one he couldn't seem to stop from pouring out of his mouth. "My mother, Granger, is she ok? What happened to her?" Hermione used her wand to help him sit up onto what he realized is a dock. She sat down cross-legged and looked him in the eyes. "Your mother is fine, many details about what happened are still coming in but as far as I can tell, she saved Harry which allowed him to finally kill Voldemort. Your mother is a hero, she will not be prosecuted but the ministry is trying to figure out how her good decisions will affect you and your prosecution." Draco let that sink in. He was guilty, on the wrong side of the war but yet his mother may have secured his freedom. "And my father?" his tone went completely cold Hermione had noticed and she wondered if he would even be affected by what she was about to say. "Your father is dead, killed in battle by fellow death eaters." She whispered, she watched the emotion or rather lack of play across his face. After what seemed like a lifetime to Hermione he broke the awkward silence with a simple utterance of "oh." Not wishing to dwell anymore on his now deceased father or hero mother, he elected to take in his surroundings instead. Looking ashore he ascertained that the house directly in front of him was where Granger had intended them to be staying. "Where exactly are we Granger?" He watched her cool demeanor slip into what looked like nerves. "Well, um, there is something you need to know. We aren't at Hogwarts anymore, in fact we aren't in England anymore." She said bashfully. "What do you mean 'not in England'? Where the fuck are we Granger?" "America, North America. Michigan actually."

Draco had never even heard of Michigan, he could scarcely believe that she had apparated across the Atlantic not only by herself but with side along apparation as well. She really was incredibly powerful. He would have to keep that in mind. He tried to calm down to keep questioning her but she went on ahead before he could voice any queries. "This house belongs to a distant relative of mine, muggle of course but don't worry nobody is here." She seemed to realize how that simple sentence could shift the power between them so she quickly corrected herself. "Just because no one is here, don't get any ideas, Malfoy. As I have said before the ministry has charged me with holding you here until they can sort out the mess so don't you dare try to escape, besides you don't even have a wand." Draco tried in vain to search his pockets but remembered the ropes holding him in place. "Granger, if I don't even have a wand, don't you think we can drop the restraints and be civilized?" Hermione almost snorted in laughter. "Civilized? You?" but luckily she dropped the curse and Draco began to stretch out his sore limbs. When he finally got back on his feet Hermione began to lead the way up from the dock and into the backyard. They walked up a deck and into a sliding glass door and slipped into a sunroom. From there he followed her through another glass door and into what looked like a living room. "This is my cousins vacation home. They never come here this time of year but they keep the house well stocked." She explained. Draco looked around skeptically. "So they have servants?" Hermione threw him a scathing look. "No they do not have _slaves_ Malfoy. Slavery in America has been abolished for some time now." Draco threw his hands up in mock apology. "Well excuse me Granger, they just seem wealthy is all. '_Though how any muggles can be wealthy is beyond me, the bunch of heathens.' _Granger began to give him the tour of the house starting in the basement where they were standing. The basement living area lead into an office, a kitchenette, two bedrooms, a bath and a sauna. Then she took him up the stairs into the formal living room. The whole house had an open floor plan and he could easily spot the kitchen and dining room upon their ascension. The house hosted a massive wrap around deck giving Draco a view of the lake and dock he was just assaulted on. Over by the front door was the master bedroom. "I'll take this room I suppose." Draco exclaimed confidently. "Oh no you don't Malfoy, I will stay in this rom, there are at least four more beds upstairs you can take." Sulkily he followed her on the rest of the tour and picked a dark bedroom with the curtains drawn. '_Typical'_ she thought to herself. When the tour was over and they found themselves in the living room again Draco tried his luck. "So where is my wand Granger?" "Uh yeah like that's going to happen Malfoy, besides your wand got trampled this morning during the fighting." A thought crossed his mind. "Were we dueling?" he inquired. Oddly enough he saw her tense up. "Never you mind who was fighting whom, we are here now and that's all that matters. Now I suggest we clean ourselves up and figure out what we are going to do until we go back to London. There are clean clothes in all the drawers, something should fit you." And with that she left him alone trying to figure out how exactly a muggle house with no servants works.

Draco had finally figured out how to turn on the shower. He was all alone now and his mind began to wander to his mother. Tears started to well up in his eyes as he imagined her sacrificing herself for him. At least she was alright. Then he thought of her being all alone. It was true that she loved Lucius once upon a time but the recent house arrest with all of them and the dark lord had changed everything. Just as Draco hated his father for what he had become and forced them to become as well, his mother fell out of love with Lucius because of his toxic personality and lack of concern for his wife and only son. His mother would be alright eventually he determined, but Draco had no idea who he was now that Lucius was dead. He spent the majority of his life either looking up to his father or trying his damnedest not to become him. Either way Lucius had been a beacon of sorts in Draco's life. But now he was gone, killed by his own 'brothers' for his cowardice no doubt. Draco was angry with Lucius, he had been angry for so long and now he never got to tell Lucius to fuck off. Draco began punching the tiles in the shower wall, not giving a damn if anyone could hear. He yelled and screamed and punched until his knuckles were bloody. When he had no more tears left and the water ran cold on his skin he collected himself and got out of the shower. After finding something suitable to wear he went off in search of Granger.

Hermione had just settled into the bathtub of the master bath. The bubbles came up to her chin and she sat trying to figure out the last time she had a real bath or shower. They had been on the run for so long that none of this even seemed real to her now. Harry finally defeated Voldemort against all odds. They had all done their part, but Hermione couldn't stop the guilt from seeping in. Yes Harry was alright and Ron of course but when it came down to the second wave this morning Hermione panicked. Hot ashamed tears started running down her face and she could do nothing to stop their flow. She left, right in the middle of the fight. She didn't even know which death eater she was dueling but it had been too much for her and she apparated to the first place she could think of. Her cousins vacation house no less. She had never intended to bring anyone with her let alone Draco Malfoy but as she fled in panic from a curse flung at her direction she bumped into Malfoy and accidently brought him with her. At least she still had the fake galleon and was able to communicate with Ron and Harry. She explained what had happened and they told her to stay put via the ministry of course. '_Ron and Harry wanted me to come back right away but Kingsly put a pin in that telling us that the situation with Malfoy is precarious now and it was best that I detain him.' _She had no idea what to do with him though and the angry tears continued as she thought about their situation and all the loved ones back home she would never see again.

Draco crept around the house quietly. He had no idea where Granger was but for some reason he felt as if he was intruding and he thought he should remain seen and not heard. When he entered into the master bedroom a terrible cry assaulted his ears. It was heart wrenching and he could feel his heart twist knowing who was making that sound. He peaked his head into the bathroom to spy Granger through the mirror sobbing for dear life. He felt for a moment a kindred spirit between them as they had both chosen the bathroom for their emotional purge. He watched as she beat the water, splashing about angrily with her eyes closed. He could just make out the tops of her breasts above the waterline and that was when he realized that he was spying on her in more ways than one. Slowly backing out of the room he moved to get as far away from the feelings of guilt as possible and that was back outside.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hermione had finally composed herself and after making quick work of her hair and makeup, via her wand, left the master bedroom and began scanning the living room for any sign of Draco. She found his sprawled out on one of her favorite lounge chairs on the upper deck. He gave a little start when he saw that she had finally emerged from the bathroom and stood up to face her. "So what happens now Granger?" She gave him a peculiar kind of smile, "Well I am supposed to be keeping you here until further notice but I suppose that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun, I mean after all we just lived through a battle and the second reign of Voldermort." Draco could hardly believe his own ears. "You want to have fun? Little miss prissy Gryffindor?" Hermione blushed a deep pink and scowled. "I do know how to have fun Malfoy and I am not prissy!" Draco didn't even know what to make of the situation so he began to chuckle. "Alright Granger, we can have 'fun' but can we eat first? I'm starving." "Oh of course, we'll have to drive into town to get some groceries but that shouldn't be a problem, I think my cousins left a car here." She hurried inside to find the car keys in the foyer and Draco followed her visibly paling. "Drive?" he asked. Hermione turned back to look at him. "You have been in a car before, haven't you?" she asked incredulously. "Of course not! What sort of self respecting witch or wizard would get in that muggle death trap?" Hermione stared at him quizzically and he could see the mirth reflected in her eyes. "This self respecting witch knows how to drive so if you are hungry I suggest you come with me in the 'death trap', I'll do my best not to kill us."

He followed her out to the garage and stood awkwardly at the driver side door unsure of what to do. "Malfoy in America the driver sits on this side, you'll have to go around." He found his way to the passenger side and tested out the door handle. The car lit up on the inside when he opened the door and he sat down in the seat trying his best not to look too nervous. Hermione settled in adjusting the seat and pulling on her seat belt when she looked over at him. "Here, you'll need to wear this." She reached across his chest and grabbed the belt and clicked it solidly into place. He just gapped at her. _'Well at least this will be interesting.'_ She thought as she turned the key allowing the engine to roar to life. She laughed to herself as she watched him tense up and hurriedly grab onto something steady. Draco could hardly believe that he was actually in a car and that he was trusting Granger of all people to drive him. He longed for his wand so that he could just apparate wherever they were going, hell he'd even settle for a comet360 rather than be in this metal contraption. As she eased out of the garage and driveway he felt himself relax a bit. He would never tell her but she seemed to be a decent driver. He preoccupied his mind by taking note of where they were exactly. They emerged from a long small wooded road onto a bigger one that he assumed would take them to get food.

Hermione felt wonderful driving again. It had been entirely too long and she was grateful not only for her father teaching her how to drive but for her cousins in America for teaching her how to drive on the opposite side of the road. She felt so at ease behind the wheel and she made a silent vow right then and there to never get too caught up with magical transportation and embrace the muggle way of living as well. She kept glancing over at Malfoy out of her peripherals. He was a spoiled little shit growing up but he couldn't be all that bad. She knew that he really couldn't even kill anyone. When he had been given the chance he balked and she didn't consider that cowardice like his fellow death eaters did. It meant that deep down he probably did have a good soul. _He didn't sell us out when we were caught and brought to his manor. He knew exactly who we were. _She thought. He was redeemable, even Dumbledore knew that so why shouldn't she give him a chance. It would be a shame to see him end up in Azkaban when he never _really_ committed any war crimes.

A short drive later Draco had noticed more shops and buildings and houses. As the town came into view he saw a frightful sight. "Granger! Watch out!" he yelled. Hermione couldn't help but giggle as she eased on the brake. The road they were on went across a narrow channel allowing large boats to pass from one lake to the other and the bridge was up. "It's ok Malfoy, this bridge goes up every half hour to allow the large boats through." She explained. It was like trying to teach a child. Draco felt entirely stupid so he sat and sulked until she pulled the car into a parking lot of the grocery store. As they walked inside a thought struck Hermione. "Have you ever been shopping for groceries?" she wondered aloud. "Of course not, the house elves take care of that." She smiled hoping he would something like that as she let him direct the cart. "Well I suppose you're the house elf now Malfoy." Draco sneered at her as she walked a few steps away from him. "Wait now, what am I supposed to be doing?" she sighed "pick out things you like or things you want to eat and put them in the cart." She explained slowly. This turned out to be a horrible decision on her part because when it came time for them to check out the cart was full to the brim. Apparently he wanted to try everything. "How are you paying for this?" he whispered as they waited in line to be checked out. She gave him a cheeky little smile and flashed a small shiny rectangle at him. "This is a muggle credit card. I er borrowed it from the house. It allows you a certain amount of money on the card and then the credit card company bills you the amount for the month and then you pay with real cash." He looked at all the food in the cart. "And you're going to cook?" She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, I do know how to cook." As the words left her mouth she remembered having to justify her 'cooking' to Ron and Harry when they were on the lam. Just thinking about them made her heart hurt so she instead focused on getting them out of the store and back to the house.

Once they were back at the lake house Hermione used her wand to levitate all of the bags inside and made her way into the kitchen to start preparing a late lunch. She made them some Panini's and a spinach salad along with a jug of iced tea. It was the beginning of summertime after all and this was how they drank tea in America. Draco was impressed. He watched her make the whole meal from scratch without ever once picking up her wand and it was good too. "How did you do this Granger?" he asked. She was taken aback as she turned pink. "What do you mean?" "This, you made this all without magic." "Well I am muggleborn, I should hope I picked up a thing or two." She quipped. "Maybe I should learn how." Hermione almost choked on her iced tea. "You want to learn muggle things?" Draco realizing what he just said backpedaled as fast as he could. "No, well I mean, that's ridiculous Granger, why would a grown wizard ever need to learn muggle things?" Hermione gave him a small smile. "Because maybe a grown wizard might find himself in a muggle area without his wand, now wouldn't you agree?" Draco tried to back out of the predicament for the sake of his reputation but he really was in awe of how muggles got on without any magic. The little seedling of an idea had already blossomed in Hermione's head. "I can teach you, you know, how to do muggle things. In fact I think that is the perfect way to spend our time here waiting for the ministry." Draco didn't like the way she said it like it was already a fact but he really had no say in the matter. He didn't know wand less magic so he was as good as a squib here without his wand. "Whatever makes you happy Granger." He muttered petulantly. "It's Hermione." She said. "My name is Hermione, yours is Draco, we aren't at Hogwarts anymore and we are stuck together so we might as well call each other by our first names." Hermione noticed he looked a little scared at her outburst but it needed to be said. He shot her a sarcastic smirk, "Where do we begin Hermione?"


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. That is the property of JK Rowling.

I'd like to apologize that this chapter is so short but this is all I have for right now, hopefully I can get the whole story out of my head soon.

This chapter has some mild explicit content and some drug use. Please no negative feedback about the drug use, Thank you. This story has been rated M

Chapter 3

Draco was annoyed, Hermione had him clean up their whole meal the muggle way and smiled sweetly at him the whole time while he cursed her under his breath. When that job was done he followed her downstairs to the living room to await further muggle instruction. Hermione handed him some long object with a lot of buttons and weird symbols. "This is a television remote, it controls the television." She gestured to the big black rectangle they were both facing. She turned on the button and Draco had to hide his surprise when the images came to life right in front of them. "So its like a pensieve?" he wondered. "Not quite, TV shows can be live or prerecorded but they can be very entertaining. This is one of the main ways the muggles get their news." Hermione showed him how to work the remote and even let him pick what they were going to watch. Draco was fascinated by what he was seeing on the TV; he flipped through all of the 'channels' while Hermione pointed out what type of show was on. All of a sudden Hermione said "Stop, hold on keep this on!" He was perplexed as to why until he saw a character that looked eerily similar to himself as a younger boy. "I've heard about this show, this is Game of Thrones. That boy Joffrey is the most hated character in all of TV." She laughed. "He looks like you!" Draco could feel a blush creep up into his cheeks. "He does not!" Draco might as well have stamped his foot the way he was pouting like a child, although he had to admit he kind of liked the sound of Hermione's laugh.

They watched the show for a few more minutes before Hermione stood up and started walking over to the kitchenette. "I don't know about you, but I could use a glass of wine. You do like wine don't you?" "White if you have it." Hermione grabbed a bottle of pinot and started combing the drawers for a bottle opener. All of a sudden Hermione exclaimed, "Oh my god!" Draco whipped his head around concerned to see Hermione holding up a bag and shaking her head muttering "She would hide this." Draco was immensely curious as to what she was holding and she brought the bag over to him. "What is it?" Hermione let him touch it while she explained. "It's marijuana. It's a drug." Draco was confused, "What does it do?" "Well it is illegal in the states to use it but apparently a ton of people do it anyway like my cousin. It's a plant in its original form and the buds from the plant, when ingested make people high. It's sort of difficult to explain because it has slightly different affects on people but over all it's mostly the same. When smoked people seem to become more," She seemed to be having trouble searching for the right word. "Giggly." "So why is it illegal?" Hermione gave a little chuckle, "Take that up with the United States government." Draco was extremely curious now. "Have you ever tried it?" "When I was a bit younger, about two years ago on summer holiday. That was the last time I was here actually, my one cousin she's about my age, had me try it." "Did you like it?" Hermione gave him a small little chuckle, "Actually I did, and it's like the same as drinking too much wine for me, a little woozy, a little giggly. I don't really see the harm in it." Draco was taken aback. Who knew that Hermione little miss perfect Granger would be into illegal things. "So let's try it." He suggested. Hermione walked back over to the kitchenette and searched all the cabinets and drawers this time. "I think we are going to have to wait until tomorrow on that," she explained. "To smoke it properly you need either special paper to wrap it in, then you smoke it like a cigarette or they make all sorts of contraptions called bowls that you can smoke it out of. We can go tomorrow to get either one. I say for now we just settle on the wine."

The once full bottle of wine was about one glass away from being empty. The two had settled in watching the Game of Thrones marathon and discussing at length what they each thought should happen in the show. "That girl! Right there the pretty blonde with the dragons, she should be queen, and I could be her king." Draco declared or rather slurred. "Hermione just laughed at him. "Well at least she would be a fair and decent queen," she agreed, "though that blonde hair is just too much." She looked over at Draco waiting for her words to sink in. "What's wrong with blonde?" he pouted. Hermione had to be very drunk because when he made that little pouty face; she actually thought he looked handsome. She couldn't stop staring at him when she thought he wasn't looking. Draco had never in a million years imagined that Hermione could be so relaxed and fun. She looked so carefree as she sipped on her third glass of wine and so at ease with herself as she playfully swatted him when he said a smart-ass comment about the show. He wondered why he had never really taken the time to see her like this before until he remembered his father and pureblood status and how much of a prat he was to her growing up. But they were adults now, they were both seventeen and had each seen enough horror caused by the dark lord to age them even more. She was mature and insanely smart and beautiful. _"Beautiful?" _he could hardly believe he let himself even think that but in his mind he knew it was true. If she had been a pureblood he would have pursued her a long time ago, but blood status shouldn't matter now. His mother certainly wouldn't care about that nonsense anymore so she wouldn't mind if he brought her home. _"Bring her home Draco? Are you fucking crazy? Hermione would _never_ want to be with you after all you've done._"

The wine was getting to him and he thought he should distance himself from her lest the lascivious thoughts started to form. He stood up gently and turned to her. "I think I'm going to go to bed now, it's been a really tiring day." He explained. At the mention of 'tiring', Hermione began to yawn. "Yeah you're right, we should get some sleep, besides I have something planned for tomorrow." She hinted. Too tired to try and weasel it out of her he let her take the lead up the stairs and followed her up. Once they reached her bedroom he lingered for a moment, "Well, uh, goodnight" he mumbled. "Goodnight." And with that she closed the bedroom door. Draco made his way up the second set of stairs to his room and tried his best not to think about how dumb he just sounded. _"What is wrong with me? I cannot have any feelings for her; she would never even look at me like that."_ But nothing Draco could do could get Hermione off of his wine soaked mind. He undressed down to his boxer briefs and got into bed. All of today replayed itself in his head and he couldn't help but focus on her. When he remembered seeing her in the bathtub he couldn't stop his hand from sliding under his underwear and making contact with his now very erect penis. He imagined it was her performing the ministrations on him and when he was done, he went to sleep happier than he had been in a very long time.


End file.
